Chain-stitch seam and method of making chain-stitches.



1?. LA GHAPELLE.

CHAIN STITCH SEAM AND METHOD OF MAKING CHAIN STITGHES.

' APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1906.

. 1,030,784. Patented June 25,1912.

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FRED LA GHAPELLE, OF-LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, .A. CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1912.

Application filed September 1, 1906. Serial No. 332,970.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, FRED LA GHAPELLE, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chain-Stitch Seams and Methods of Making Chain- Stitches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object a novel method of forming stitches and the production of a novel sewed seam.

Prior to my invention, the method of forming the stitch, employed for sewing together the parts of boots and shoes, con sisted in passing a needle into and drawing a loop of waxed thread through a hole in the material, inserting a hooked needle through a second hole in the material, and drawing another loop through the material (and through the firstloop if a chain stitch is being formed), this being continued successively so that the seam consisted of a series of locked or enchained loops. In a lock stitch the loops of the needle thread are interlocked with a shuttle thread, whereas in a chain stitch the loops of the needle thread are enchained, and only a single thread is used. In the operation of welt or turned shoe sewing machines forming the stitch as thus described, the thread is frequently caused to saw or cut through the between substance, so called, in forming and setting the stitches, particularly where the inner soles are made of stock of a rela tively low grade. This has necessitated the employment of inner soles of a relatively high grade of stock with a consequent high cost of production.

As a consequence of my invention, I am able to prevent the cutting or sawing of the between substance by the thread and am able therefore to utilize inner soles of a stock that has' hitherto been nonusable. Broadly speaking, the sewed seam formed in accordance with my invention, comprises a series of loops of a main or needle thread and a series of connected loops of an auxiliary thread which are tightly coiled about the bases of the loops of the main or needle threadand through which the loops of the needle thread are drawn by the needle. The loops of auxiliary thread, which are connected by substantially taut stretches, lie against one face of the material or between substance and the enchained or locked portions of the loops of the main or needle thread lie against the other face of the said material.

The method of forming my improved seam consists in forming a loop of the auxiliary thread, drawing a loop of the needle thread therethrough and through a hole. in the material or bet-ween substance by means of a needle or other suitable instrument, inserting said needle or instrument through a second hole in the material, forming a second loop of auxiliary thread, and drawing a second loop of needle thread through the second loop of the auxiliary thread (and through the first loop of the needle thread if a chain stitch seam is to be made), this step being repeated until the seam is completed. The stitches ofthe needle thread may be set in any convenient manner, as for instance in accordance with the method set forth in Letters Patent to Briggs #461,793, dated October 20, 1891, or the patent to French. & Meyer, #412,704, dated October 8, 1889, if the stitch is a chain stitch or by any other suitable means if a lock stitch be formed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,Figure'1 illustrates conventionally a plurality of stitches forming a chain stitch seam in accordance with my invention. Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 illustrate successive steps of forming my improved seam.

On the said. drawings, a indicates the needle, b the thread finger or measuring device. 0 what I may term the main looper, and (Z the auxiliary looper of a chain stitch sewing machine. In Fig. 2, the thread finger b is in an inactive position. The needle or equivalent instrument is passed through an aperture in the work (which may comprise a plurality of layers of material such as the body of the inner sole, the upper and the welt of a partially formed shoe as shown in Figs. 2 to 41-) and the loopers c and d? are in their initial positions. The thread finger b is then moved to its active position as shown in Fig. 3 so as to raise ormeasureofl the sewing or needle thread 6 in the usual manner. The two loopers are then operated through "the paths illustrated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. The auxiliary or extra thread 7 is formed in a loop about the needle in one direction above the barb and the needle thread is formed in a. loop in the opposite direction around the needle and is laid in the barb below the loop of the extra thread. The looper (Z moves. rapidly in the direction of the arrow 00 in Fig. 4 and returns to its initial position, whereas the looper c pauses temporarily in the position shown in Fig. 4. Thus at the present time there has been formed upon the needle a loop 71 of the auxiliary thread and below it a loop 61 of the needle thread which may be drawn upward through the loop 71 and through the work. As the needle moves upward, it carries with it the loop 61 which passes through the loop 71 and through the loop 72 of the previously formed stitch. After the needle has cleared the work, the work is fed by any suitable means as by an awl c (see Fig. 5), during which time the looper 0 moves to its initial position as illus trated in Fig. 5. The needle next descends through the aperture formed in the work by the awl and the loop 81 is tightened in any suitable way so as to set the stitch and complete the cycle of operation. The seam as thus formed is illustrated conventionally in Fig. 1 and it comprises the auxiliary thread 7 having the loops 71, and the needle or sewing thread 6 having the loops 61 passing through the loops 71, each loop 61 being enchained with or passing through the loop 61 of the preceding stitch. In Fig. 1, the threads are shown as formed with open coils, this being for the sake of illustration.

* but it will be understood that, in actual practice, the loops of the auxiliary thread, which are connected by substantially taut stretches are closed tightly about the loops of the needle or sewing thread so that, as the loops of the latter are drawn upward through the workand the stitches are set, the between substance is protected from the sawing or cutting action of the sewing thread by the loops of the auxiliary or extra thread. Those portions of the sewing or needle thread, which pass through the be tween substance, are at substantially a right angle to those portions of the thread 6 which lie on the opposite sides of the between substance, and thus it is that I term the stitch square in contra-distinction to one in which the thread forms a substantially elliptical figure as heretofore.

It will be understood that a lock stitch may be formed in accordance with my in- Vention, in which case the shuttle thread will be passed through the loops of the needle thread on the needle side of the work, by a suitable mechanism.

As I have previously stated, it will be ap parent that, by my invention, a manufacturer of shoes is able to use inner soles formed of stock which has been previously incapable of use, such as inner soles made of thin, soft or spongy leather which would be cut or sawed by the sewing thread when sewed in the usual manner. Hence it is possible to manufacture shoes at a lower cost than heretofore, at the same time preserving the usual quality of the shoe. By the employment of the extra thread, the shoes are made more water-proof than heretofore, since the loops of extra thread are drawn partly into the apertures through which the needle passes so as to completely fill the apertures and consequently prevent the leakage of water therethrough.

I may refer to the side of the between substance (or work) or the seam on which the loops of sewing or needle thread are enchained, as the outside or needle-side, and the side of the between substance (or work) or the seam on which the loops of the extra thread are formed as the inside or looper-side but it will be understood that these terms are merely relative. I have also referred to the coils or loops which encircle the bases of the enchained loops as being formed of thread and of course by that term, I mean to include wire, tape, or other equivalent.

I have further employed the terms looper and auxiliary looper as distinguishing the parts or members 0 and cl, and mean to thereby include any other member or instrument which causes or effects the formation of the coils or loops of the extra or auxiliary thread.

In my application, Serial No. 326,687, filed July 18, 1906, I have illustrated, described and claimed novel mechanism by which my method of making my novel sewed seam may be carried out.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention, and described a way of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made, or all the modes of its use, I declare that what I claim is:

1. A sewed seam for leather articles comprising a compound article or piece of work composed of two or more layers, a series of loops drawn through the work and connected at their bases by stretches of thread integral with the loops and bearing against one face of the work, loops tightly encircling the bases of the first-mentioned loops at the points where the loops enter the work, and substantially taut stretches of an extra thread integral with the second-mentioned loops. r

2. A sewed seam comprising a compound article or piece of work such as a shoe composed of two or more layers, a series of loops drawn through the work and connected at their bases by stretches of thread integral with the loops and bearing against one face of the work, said loops being enchained on the other faces of the work, loops tightly encircling the bases of the first-mentioned loops at the points where the loops enter the work, and substantially taut stretches of an extra thread integral with the secondmentioned loops.

3. A method of forming a seam, which consists in inserting a hooked needle through the material from one side thereof, forming a loop of an extra thread about said needle on the other side of said material, drawing a loop of needle thread through said loop of extra'thread and through said material, and repeating said steps to leave each loop of extra thread tightly encircling a loop of needle thread, substantially as set forth.

l. A method for forming a chain stitch seam, consisting in repeatedly forming a loop of an extra thread on one side of the work, drawing a loop of a main or needle thread from said side of the work through said loop of extra thread and through a pre viously formed loop of said main or needle thread and repeating said steps in the order named so that the base of each loop of needle thread is tightly inclosed by a closed loop of loop of a main or needle thread through said loop of extra thread and through the materials from said side of the work, forming a second loop of said extra thread, and drawing a second loop of said main or needle thread through said second loop of extra thread, through said materials and through the first loop of main or needle thread, substantially as described, so that the base of each completed loop of needle thread is tightly encircled by a closed loop of the extra thread.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

FRED LA. CHAPELLE. Witnesses M. B. MAY, A. L. FoLsoM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. G.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,030,78, granted June 25, 1912,

upon the application of Fred La Chapelle, of Lynn, Massachusetts, for an improvement in Chain-Stitch Seams and Methods of Making Chain-Stitches, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 129, for the Word faces read face; and that the said Letters Patent should be read With this correctiontherein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 6th day of August, A. D., 1912.

C. C. BILLINGS,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

[SEAL] 

